Personal summary

I am a computational biologist working on understanding the forces that govern the interactions between organisms in ecologically critical environments, such as coral reefs, and the forces that drive major evolutionary transitions, such as the one that gave rise to the first photosynthetic Eukaryotas. I am also CEO of OceanOmics, a company dedicated to developing salable tools for environmental health monitoring.

Contact information

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Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Rutgers University, USA
timothystephens.github.io
TimothyStephens
@timstep1383

Education and Research Experience

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2019 — present Post Doctoral Associate, Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Rutgers University
2016 — 2019 PhD, Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland
2015 — 2015 Honours, Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland
2012 — 2015 Bachelor of Biotechnology, Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland

Awards and honours

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2023 Selected to attend and present at the New Phytologist Next Generation Scientists Conference 2023, National University of Singapore
2021 2019 Dean’s Award for Outstanding Higher Degree by Research Theses, University of Queensland
2016 Research Training Program (RTP) scholarship, University of Queensland
2012 Dean’s Commendation for Academic Excellence (achieved a GPA over 6.6), University of Queensland
2011 Merit Scholarship for academic achievement, University of Queensland

Select Publications

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2024 Benites L. F., Stephens T. G., Etten J. V., James T., Christian W. C., Barry K., Grigoriev I. V., McDermott T. R. & Bhattacharya D. Viruses associated with extremophilic red algal mats reveal signatures of early thermal adaptation. Communications Biology, 2024. [URL]
2023 Bhattacharya D., Stephens T. G., Chille E. E., Benites L. F., Chan C. X. Facultative lifestyle drives diversity of coral algal symbionts. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 39(3):239-247, 2023. [URL]
2023 *Williams A., *Stephens T. G., Shumaker A., and Bhattacharya D. Peeling back the layers of coral holobiont multi-omics data. iScience, 26(9):107623, 2023. *Co-first authorship [URL]
2023 Stephens T. G., Strand E. L., Putnam H. M., and Bhattacharya D. Ploidy variation and its implications for reproduction and population dynamics in two sympatric Hawaiian coral species. Genome Biology and Evolution, evad149, 2023. [Preprint] [URL]
2023 Etten J. V, Stephens T. G., and Bhattacharya D. A k-mer-based approach for inferring phylogenetic relatedness of environmental genomic data. Systems Biology, syad037, 2023. Won the Publisher’s Award for Excellence in Systematic Research [URL]
2023 Etten J. V., Benites F. L., Stephens T. G., Yoon H. S., and Bhattacharya D. Algae obscura: The potential of rare species as model systems. Journal of Phycology, 59(2):293-300, 2023. [URL]
2022 Stephens T. G., Lee J., Jeong Y., Yoon H. S., Putnam H. M., Majerova E., and Bhattacharya D. High-quality genome assemblies from key Hawaiian coral species. GigaScience, 11:giac098, 2022. [URL]
2022 Benites L. F., Stephens T. G., and Bhattacharya D. Multiple waves of viral invasions in Symbiodiniaceae algal genomes. Virus Evolution, 8:veac101, 2022. [Preprint] [URL]
2022 Bhattacharya D., Etten J. V., Benites L. F., and Stephens T. G. Endosymbiotic ratchet accelerates divergence after organelle origin. BioEssays, e2200165, 2022. [URL]
2022 *Gabr A., *Stephens T. G., and Bhattacharya D. Loss of key endosymbiont genes may facilitate early host control of the chromatophore in Paulinella. iScience, 25:104974, 2022. *Co-first authorship [URL]
2022 Meng Z., Williams A., Liau P., Stephens T. G., Drury C., Chiles E. N., Su X., Javanmard M., and Bhattacharya D. Development of a portable toolkit to diagnose coral thermal stress. Scientific Reports, 12:14398, 2022. [URL]
2022 Bhattacharya D., Stephens T. G., Tinoco A., Richmond R., and Cleves P. A. Life on the edge: Hawaiian model for coral evolution. Limnology and Oceanography, 67:1976-1985, 2022. [URL]
2022 *Calatreva V., *Stephens T. G., Gabr A., Grossman A. R., and Bhattacharya D. Retrotransposition facilitated the establishment of a primary plastid in the thecate amoeba Paulinella. PNAS, 119:e2121241119, 2022. *Co-first authorship [URL]
2022 Dougan K. E., Gonzalez-Pech R. A., Stephens T. G., Shah S., Chen Y., Ragan M. A., Bhattacharya D., and Chan C. X. Genome-powered classification of microbial eukaryotes: focus on coral algal symbionts. Trends in Microbiology, 30:831-840, 2022. [URL]
2021 Williams A., Pathmanathan J. S., Stephens T. G., Su X., Chiles E. N., Conetta D., Putnam H. M., and Bhattacharya D. Multi-omic characterization of the thermal stress phenome in the stony coral Montipora capitata. PeerJ, 9:e12335, 2021. [Preprint] Featured by PeerJ Expert Curations: Molecular Ecology: PeerJ Expert Curations, PeerJ Blog [URL]
2021 Stephens T. G., Gabr A., Calatreva V., Grossman A. R., and Bhattacharya D. Why is primary endosymbiosis so rare?. New Phytologist, 231:1693-1699, 2021. [URL]
2021 Gonzalez-Pech, R. A., Stephens T. G., Chen Y., Mohamed A. R., Cheng Y., Shah S., Dougan K. E., Fortuin M. D. A., Lagorce R., Burt D. W., Bhattacharya D., Ragan M. A., and Chan C. X. Comparison of 15 dinoflagellate genomes reveals extensive sequence and structural divergence in family Symbiodiniaceae and genus Symbiodinium. BMC Biology, 0.842361111, 2021. [Preprint] [URL]
2020 Stephens T. G., Gonzalez-Pech R. A., Cheng Y., Mohamed A. R., Burt D. W., Bhattacharya D., Ragan M. A., and Chan C. X. Genomes of the dinoflagellate Polarella glacialis encode tandemly repeated single-exon genes with adaptive functions. BMC Biology, 18:56, 2020. [Preprint] Featured by IMB News [URL]
2019 Chen Y., Gonzalez-Pech R. A., Stephens T. G., Bhattacharya D., and Chan C. X. Evidence that inconsistent gene prediction can mislead analysis of dinoflagellate genomes. Journal of Phycology, 56:6-10, 2019. [Preprint] [URL]
2018 Stephens T. G., Ragan M. A., Bhattacharya D., and Chan C. X. Core genes in diverse dinoflagellate lineages include a wealth of conserved dark genes with unknown functions. Scientific Reports, 8:17175, 2018. [URL]
2018 Liu H., Stephens T. G., Gonzalez-Pech R. A., Beltran V. H., Lapeyre B., Bongaerts P., Cooke I., Aranda M., Bourne D. G., Foret S., Miller D. J., van Oppen M. J. H., Voolstra C. R., Ragan M.A., and Chan C.X. Symbiodinium genomes reveal adaptive evolution of functions related to coral-dinoflagellate symbiosis. Communications Biology, 0.107638889, 2018. [Preprint] Featured by multiple outlets: IMB News, GBRF, Video Feature, IMB 2018 year in review [URL]

Grants

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2023 Rutgers TechAdvance Fund, $74,842 USD
Funds to continue development of our coral health monitoring toolkit.
Principal Investigators: Debashish Bhattacharya (Rutgers University), Rutgers University
2023 Core Facility Utilization Application, $5,000 USD
Funds for metabolomic profiling of the sex hormone cycle in spawning corals.
Principal Investigators: Debashish Bhattacharya (Rutgers University), Rutgers University
2022 Core Facility Utilization Application, $5,000 USD
Funds for sequencing of coral microbiome samples.
Principal Investigators: Debashish Bhattacharya (Rutgers University), Rutgers University
2022 Center for Nutrition, Microbiome, and Health Small Grant FY-22, $2,000 USD
Characterizing the coral microbiome biogeography across colonies and reefs.
Principal Investigators: Debashish Bhattacharya (Rutgers University), Center for Nutrition, Rutgers University
2018 UQ-FAPESP Strategic Research Fund SPRINT (2018/15159-9), $20,000 (~USD $14,000)
Integrated genomic approaches to understand stress tolerance in bioethanol-producing yeasts and coral reef symbionts
Principal Investigators: Cheong Xin Chan (UQ) and Jeferson Gross (State University of Sao Paulo), Jointly funded by University of Queensland (UQ) and Sao Paulo State Foundation (FAPESP)

Teaching experience

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2020 — present Co-lecturer
Rutgers University
Design and conducted lectures on de novo next-generation genome and transcriptome sequencing, metabolomics, proteomics, metagenomics, phylogenetics, and phylogenomics in a join undergraduate and postgraduate course titled “Fundamentals of Microbial Genomics”. Duties include designing and marking student’ exam questions and oral presentations.
2018 Head Practical Tutor
University of Queensland
Duties included designing and developing assessment material for the course and organising marking of assignments.

Selected Talks

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2023 Stephens T. G., Etten J. V., Benites L. F., Mcdermott T., and Bhattacharya D. Cyanidiophyceae: The extremophilic red algae that underpin hot spring microbial communities in Yellowstone National Park. UQ Marine Ecogenomics Symposium 2023. 13-14 December 2023, University of Queensland, Australia.
2023 Stephens T. G., Calatrava V., Gabr A., Grossman A., and Bhattacharya D. Exploring the origin and evolution of primary plastids using Paulinella as a model system. International Society of Endocytobiology conference 2023. 10-14th September 2023, Field Museum, Chicago.
2023 Stephens T. G., Chille E., Strand E. L., Putnam H. M., and Bhattacharya D. Multi-omics investigation of coral resilience. Invited talk at Carnegie Plant Biology Seminar, August 2023. 25th August 2023, Carnegie Department of Plant Biology, Stanford University, USA.
2023 Stephens T. G., Calatrava V., Gabr A., Grossman A., and Bhattacharya D. Exploring the origin and evolution of primary plastids using Paulinella as a model system. New Phytologist Next Generation Scientists Conference 2023. 3rd July 2023, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
2023 Stephens T. G., Calatrava V., Gabr A., Grossman A., and Bhattacharya D. Exploring endosymbiosis and biotic interactions using niche, non-model algae. Invited talk at SCMB GenGen/ACE Special Seminar. 10th January 2023, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
2022 Stephens T. G., Strand E. L., Putnam H. M., and Bhattacharya D. Differences in ploidy and the prevalence of clonal propagation between Montipora capitata and Pocillopora acuta from Kane’ohe Bay, Hawai’i. 15th International Coral Reef Symposium. 3-8th July 2022, Bremen, Germany.
2022 Stephens T. G., Etten J. V., McDermott T., and Bhattacharya D. Analysis of environmental meta-omics data from the extremophilic red algae Cyanidiophyceae. Joint Aquatic Sciences Meeting. 14-20th May, 2022, Grand Rapids, USA.
2021 Stephens T. G., Calatrava V., Gabr A., Grossman A., and Bhattacharya D. Insights into the evolution of a primary endosymbiosis through analysis of the Paulinella genome. 75th Annual Meeting of the Phycological Society of America. 13-22nd July 2021, online.
2021 Stephens T. G., Calatrava V., Gabr A., Grossman A., and Bhattacharya D. Insights into the evolution of a primary endosymbiosis through analysis of the Paulinella genome. 12th International Phycological Congress. 22-26th March 2021, Chile.

Media coverage

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2024 Our paper Multi-omic characterization of the thermal stress phenome in the stony coral Montipora capitata was featured as part of PeerJ Expert Curations: Molecular Ecology: PeerJ Expert Curations, PeerJ Blog
2023 Our paper A k-mer-Based Approach for Phylogenetic Classification of Taxa in Environmental Genomic Data won the Publisher’s Award for Excellence in Systematic Research
2022 Our paper Retrotransposition facilitated the establishment of a primary plastid in the thecate amoeba Paulinella covered by Rutgers Research
2022 Article by Rutgers Research on our short film The Coral Holobiont Response to Climate Change which won Best Trailer in the Kiez Berlin Film Festival.
2021 Our paper Why is primary endosymbiosis so rare? was covered by Rutgers Newsroom. We also produced two animated videos: Video 1, Video 2
2020 Our paper Amoeba Genome Reveals Dominant Host Contribution to Plastid Endosymbiosis covered by Rutgers Today

Service

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2023 — present Associate Editor: Symbiotic and Parasitic Protists section, Frontiers in Protistology

Patents

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2023 Provisional Patent “Protein Markers of Coral Stress” (5431.1025-000:2023-098)
Non-provisional US Patent filed 2024/03/27
2023 Provisional Patent “Coral Rapid Strip Test” (5431.1024-000:2023-097)